Garage door latch



Dec. 15, 1959 J. P. PYKA GARAGE DOOR LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April22, 1957 INVENTOR. Joy/v A. Pym? Dec. 15, 1959 Y J. P. PYKA 2,917,335

GARAGE DOOR LATCH Filed April 22 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. J: Jo/v2 V/Zfl United States Patent GARAGE DOOR LATCH John P. Pyka, Van Nuys,Calif.

Application April 22, 1957, Serial No. 654,176

' 7 Claims. (11. 292-1 This invention relates to devices for preventingunauthorized entry of persons into buildings, and more particularly tocatches to be used with locks on overhead doors employed in garagebuildings and the like.

Those skilled in the art will already recognize that an extremely largenumber of overhead garage door latches would be of practical value ifall such doors were precision made and precision hung. For example,hasps or bolts or many other devices would be used. However, as apractical matter, most all garage doors are not precision doors becauseit is uneconomical to make and install such doors. For this reason mostall conventional door latches are unsuitable for use on such doors,because a door may close at a somewhat different posi tion each timeand, because no shock absorbing mechanism is normally ever provided onan overhead garage door latch to minimize wear and damage on the latch.

Still further, conventional garage door latches are not normally easilyoperable from both the inside and outside of a garage.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a mechanical latchfor use on overhead garage doors which are not precision made orinstalled.

It is another object of the invention to provide a shock absorbinggarage door latch.

It is another object of the invention to provide a latch for an overheaddoor of a garage which may be easily operated from both the inside andoutside of the garage.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved and theabove-described and other disadvantages of the prior art are overcome byproviding a latch for a door in a garage building or the like having afront wall overhanging an entrance way, the door of the garage beingadapted to travel from an overhead position inside the garage to avertical position covering the entrance way. This latch then comprises aprojection mounted inside the garage on the front wall in a position torotate about a horizontal axis through one end perpendicularly to itsown longitudinal axis. Bias means are then provided to hold theprojection in a position extending upwardly and rearwardly in thegarage. The bias means preferably includes resilient means to resistyieldingly rotation of the projection to a position extending downwardlyand rearwardly in the garage. A bracket is then fixed to the upper endof the garage door and a constraining member is fixed to the bracket ina position to present a frustoconical or equivalent type of taperedsurface to a free end of the projection opposite said one end. Thefrustoconical surface then is a surface of revolution about an axiswhich is horizontal when the garage door is lowered to a positioncovering the entrance way. The constraining member is provided with anaperture at the center of the frusto-c'onical surface to receive thefree end of the projection, A catch member or pawl is then rotatablymounted on the free end of the projection to engage a rear surface ofthe constraining member to prevent removal of the door from the entranceway when engaged by the pawl; The pawl is preferably spring-loaded soradially downwardly of the projection at a particular circumferential'position there around at the free end. Release means are then providedto permit removal of the constraining member from the projection so thatthe 5 garage door may be raised to its overhead position.

Thus, it can be seen that use of the projection with the aperture in theconstraining member and its frustoconical type surface facilitatespositive actuation of the latch by guiding the projection toward theaperture and through it to securely latch the door in its positioncovering the entrance way by use of the spring-loaded pawl, that is,side to side movement of the door cannot prevent positive actuation ofthe door latch of the invention because the frusto-conical surface ofthe constraining member will always guide the projection to the centralaperture provided in it. In addition, the means used to mount theprojection in a position extending upwardly and rearwardly in thegarage-facilitates positive actuation of the latch because allowance inthis manner can be made for the angular movement of the door relative tosome pivot point; This is true whether or not the whole door is rotatedabout a single horizontal axis or whether the door is put together in anumber of hinged panels which are lowered successively to theiroperative position covering the entrance way on suitable trackways oneach side of the garage.

Although it is not necessary thatthe pawl be maintained at a particularangular position on the projection, preferably his so maintained so thatwhen the constraining member is provided with a radially extending slotit may be rotated to a position such that the slot is aligned with thepawl and the constraining member may be removed from the projection asthe garage door is raised to its overhead position.

In accordance with a feature of the invention, resilient means areemployed to urge the projection to a position normally extendingupwardly and rearwardly in the garage. This resilient means thusperforms two functions. In the first place, it yields to force appliedto the projection downwardly as the constraining. member surrounds theprojection and the door is lowered to its operative position coveringthe entrance way. Secondly, it provides a shock absorbing mechanism forthe latch to prevent unnecessary wear and damage to the latch itself.

Conveniently a handle may be rotatably mounted through the garage doorto operate the-latch from the outside of the garage by-means of, forexample, a chain fixed to an operating arm extending radially downwardlyfrom the radially slotted constraining member. It is therefore anadvantage of the invention that the garage door latch may also be openedfrom the inside simply by pulling the chain to rotate the constrainingmember to a position such that the pawl is aligned with the radial slotin the constraining member. Thus, the garage door It is to be expresslyunderstood, however, that the drawings are for purposes of illustrationand description only,- and that they are not intended as a definition ofthe:

limits of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a broken-away sectional view of a front er;-

tion of a garage for the latch of the invention in itsoperativeposition;

Fig. 2 is a'sectional view of a garage door showing a front view of thelatch in place and taken'on-the line 22 shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspectiveview of abracket, an adjustment screw, and aprojection rot-atably mounted in the the bracket employed =insthegaragedoor latch ot-the present invention;

Fig. 4'is a sectional view of the door latchofthe invention itself shownin its operative position and taken on the line4-4 shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is .a sectional view of a constraining member and associatedmechanical structure taken on the line 55 shown in Fig. 4; and V Fig. 6is a sectional view of theconstraining member taken at the-same positionas on line 5-5'-shown'in'Fig. 4 -but with theconstraining member rotatedto a;position such that a radial slot therein is aligned with a pawl onthe projectionshown in Fig. 3, wherebytheconstrziining member may beremoved'frorn the:projection'to open the garage door to which it isattached.

Inthe drawing in Fig. :1, a garage 'is indicated generallyat 10having aroof 12 with a front'wall '14 overhanging an entrance way indicatedgenerallyat 16. Entrance way 16 is covered by a garage door 18 which maybe located at the position shown in solid lines from an overheadposition from which it swings along an arc indicated by an arrow .20, anintermediate. position of which is indicated bythe dottedlines 22.

Although a garage door made of several horizontally hinged sections maybe moved on trackways on each side of the garage, the door 18 shown inFig.1 is one which is rotatably mounted by a single horizontal axis.Door 18 is for this reason fixed to braces 24, only oneof which is shownin Fig. 1.

The garage door latch of the invention is indicated generally at 26 inFig. 1. It'includes two principal parts. One is a bracket 28 fixed tofront wall 14 and the other is a bracket 30 fixed tothe upper. end ofgarage door 18. As can be seen in Fig. 4, wood screws 31 extend througha horizontal portion 33 of bracket 30 into a beam 32 of door 18. Bracket30 also includes a vertical body portion 37 strengthened by means of atriangular Web 39 also fixed tohorizontal portion 33. Garage door 18 isprovided with a covering wall 34 for entrance way 16 as shown in Fig. 1.The covering wall 34 need not necessarily bear against a rear portion ofthe front wall 14, as shown in Fig. '1, but may hang loosely on a projection .36 .of the door latch 26 which will provide a shock absorbingfunction as will be explained subsequently.

The manner in which the door latch 26 may be 0perated is' betterillustrated in Fig. 2 where a handle 38 is shown rotatably mountedthrough door 18 and has an arm 40 fixed to it by means of a longitudinalscrew 42. Handle 38 has a transverse portion rotatably mounted from abracket44 that is fixed to the inside of enclosing wall 34 of door '18by means of screws 46. Rotation of handle 38 in the direction of arrow48 will cause door latch 26 to open, arm 40 actuating an arm 50 of doorlatch 26 through a vertical chain connection 52. Operating arm 50 ofdoor latch 26 includes a'screw 54 threaded through an ear -56Jand intothe body portion of a rotatable constraining member 58, better shown inFig. 5. As can be seen, a hole 60 is provided through the beam 32 in thedoor 18 to permit the passage of chain 52 therethrough.

Bracket 28 is perhaps best shown in Fig. 3 including holes 62.which areprovided for screws 64 to maintain the bracket in a fixed position onwall 14 as best indicated in Fig. 4. A sha.ft.66.is then located throughside portions of bracket 28 and through projection 36 to rotatably mountprojection 36 about a horizontal axis perpendicular to its longitudinalaxis. Preferably projection 36is tapered at itsgfree endinch'cated at 68and is provided with a pawl 70 at that end rotatably mounted about ashaft 72 at a particular circumferential position on the projection 36.The pawl 70 is spring-loaded by a spring 74 best indicated in Fig. 4which urges pawl 70 to rotate to the position shown in Fig. 4, thisbeing limited by a stop 76 on projection 36. Spring 74 is located at itsupper end in a groove 78 in a lower surface of pawl 70 and in a groove80 in a slot of projection 36.

Projection 36 is normally canted upwardly and rearwardly in the garageas indicated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4. This is performed by means of a wirespring 82 that is located in a hole 84 in projection 36, wound aboutshaft 66 one or two turns, and located in a hole 86 in a lowertransverse portion 88 of bracket 28. Theupward canted angle ofprojection 36 may be and probably is adjustable with a screw 90 threadedthrough an upper transverse portion 92 of bracket 28.

Rotary member 58 is provided with a frusto-conical surface 94 which neednot be exactly frusto-conical .but which preferably istapered inwardlytoward its center 360 around its circumference as indicated in Fig. 4.Constraining member 58 is rotatably mounted in a housing 96 fixed tobracket 30 by means ot'bolts 98, three of which are indicated in bothFigs. 5 and 6. Constraining member 58 is provided with an aperture 100at its symmetrical center and at the converging end of frustoconicalsurface 94. Thus, body portion 37 of bracket 30 must be apertured at120m permit projection 36 to extend therethrough. Similarly, housing 96for constraining member 58 is also provided with an aperture 122.Projection 36 thus projects through aperture 100 when the latch 26 ofthe invention is maintained in its operative latching position. Asindicated in Fig. 5, rotary member 58 is provided with a radial slot 102which may be movedto the position of the pawl 70 as indicated in Fig. 6to permit release of projection 36. The peculiar shape of projection 36which maybe noted in Figs. 5 and 6, it will be observed, comes from thefact that the section of the latch of the invention taken on the line5-5, shown in Fig. 4, is at an angle with respect to projection 36.

Constraining member 58 is normally urged to the position shown in Fig. 5to cooperate with pawl 70 on projection 36 to prevent movement of garagedoor 18 upwardly and rearwardly in garage 10 to its overhead position bya torsion spring 104 that extends from a hole 106 extending throughhousing'96 loosely around constraining member 58 as indicated in Fig. 5'and then into a hole 10.8 inconstraining member 58 extendingapproximately radially into it. Thus, when constraining member 58 ismoved to the position in Fig. 6 torsion spring 104 is moved to aposition radially closer to the exterior of constraining member 58,torsion spring 104 also extending into a groove 109 in constrainingmember 58itself.

Housing 96 is provided with a radial slot 110 having one terminalportion112 at its upper end to provide a stop for screw 54 ofoperatingmember 50 and a lower terminal portion 114 to provide a lowerstop for operating member 50.

Although the invention should not be limited to any specific lock, itwill obviously 'be desirable to use a lock with a latch of theinvention. For this reason a tumble lock 118, as indicated in Fig. 2,may be provided to lock handle 38in a fixed position as indicated inFig. 2.

Although much of the structure shown in the drawings in this case arepreferably used with the invention, all of course need not necessarilybe employed and many changes and modifications thereof may be madewithout departing from the invention. .However, certain structuresnecessarily must be employed. In the first place, it is necessary toemploy projection 36 pivoted at one end as in Fig. 4 so that verticaland arcuate movement of garage door 18 will not affect positiveactuation of the latch of the invention. In addition,.resilient meansmust be employed to urge projection 36 to extend upwardly and rearwardlyin garage 10. This is necessary because of the arc movement indicated atarrow 20 in Fig. 1 of garage door 18. Further, although of coursesurface 94 of constraining member 58 need not be expresslyfrustoconical, it must be tapered towards its center as indicated inFig. 4 approximately 360 about its circumference. For purposes ofdefinition, however, it is to be understood that the adjectivefrusto-conical, as used hereinbefore and hereinafter, is not tobelimited to a specific tapered shape. This mechanical structure must beemployed to locate the end of projection 36 positively within aperture100 in constraining member 58. Of course, some deterrent or pawl must beprovided on projection 36 to engage a rear portion or back surface 116of constraining member 58 to latch garage door 18 securely in place.

Although it is not necessarily employed, it is to be noted that use ofadjustment screw 90 is very advantageous when the door with which thelatch of the invention to be used is very poorly hung and whereprovision cannot appropriately be made to locate the position of bracket28 accurately on front wall 14.

It is to be noted that no resilient means is required to returnconstraining member 58 to its position as the use of torsion spring 104is indicated. This certainly is convenient, but is not a necessaryexpedient. Still further, it will be obvious that the invention shouldnot be limited to the use of any specific release means for the pawl 70on projection 36, or operating arm such as the arm 50. Still further,pawl 70 may take various forms as deterrent means on projection 36.Furthermore, the specific structures of spring 82, projection 36, andconstraining member 50 may be varied considerably under theabovedescribed qualifications. It is to be understood that springs 76,82 and 106 need not be wire springs as shown but may take the form ofany resilient means.

Preferably door latch 26 is located centrally of garage door 18 tominimize rotational movement of garage door 18 about its centralhorizontal axis. However, it is to be understood that the door latch 26is to be used for the specific purpose of making irregular movements ofdoor 18 immaterial as far as its positive actuation goes. For thisreason, provided that a door latch of the invention is fitted to aparticular door, one may be provided at each side of a garage door. Thefact that preferably the door latch of the invention is used at thecenter of a door is not only desirable from the point of view ofpositive actuation, but also makes an operating mechanism for it easierand more economical to make and install. For example, it may benecessary to employ a latch of the invention at each side of a garagedoor because of the considerable leverage one might obtain to break thelatch if a person attempted to enter the garage by forcing the garagedoor 18 at one side.

Since all these and many other changes and modifications of theinvention will be obvious to those skilled in the art, it is to beunderstood that the invention is by no means limited to any more than tothe general structures which are required and not to the specific formsshown. Further, although only one specific embodiment of the inventionhas been shown, this embodiment has been shown merely for purpose ofdescription and illustration. For this reason, the invention is not tobe limited to the embodiment shown but it is to be understood that thetrue scope thereof is defined only in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A latch comprising: a projection to rotate about a predetermined axisperpendicular to its own longitudinal axis; bias means to hold saidprojection yieldingly in an inoperative rotational position about saidpredetermined axis; a bracket having a constraining member mountedthereon, said constraining member having a substantially frusto-conicalsurface of revolution, said constraining member having a holeapproximately at the center of said fmstd-conical surface to receive thefree end of said projection; a catch member on the free end of saidprojection to engage a rearward surface of said constraining member; andrelease means to permit removal of said constraining member from saidprojection.

2. A latch comprising: a projection to rotate about a predetermined axisperpendicular to its own longitudinal axis; bias means to hold saidprojection yieldingly in an inoperative rotational position about saidpredetermined axis; a bracket having a member rotatable thereon, saidrotatable member having a substantially frustd-conical surface ofrevolution, said rotatable member also having a hole approximately atthe center of said frusto-conical surface to receive the free end ofsaid projection; a pawl rotatably mounted on said projection about anaxis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said projection; andresilient means to hold said pawl yieldingly outwardly of saidprojection in a manner to be depressed when entering the aperture ofsaid rotatable member, but to snap outwardly after passing through it toengage a rearward surface of said rotatable member to prevent subsequentremoval of said projection from said rotatable member, said pawlnormally extending radially outwardly of said projection at a particularcircumferential position therearound, said rotatable member having aslot of a width larger than that of said pawl through saidfrusto-conical surface at a circumferential position different than thatof said pawl on said projection, said rotatable member being rotatableto the position of said pawl to release said projection.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2, wherein resilient means areadditionally provided to urge said rotatable member to move to aposition in which said rotatable member slot and said pawl are notaligned.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3, wherein said projection ispivotally mounted on a shaft, wherein a bracket is also provided toretain the ends of said shaft, and wherein said bracket is provided witha lower transverse portion having a vertical hole, said projection meansbeing normally maintained in an inoperative position by a wire springextending longitudinally into said projection having at least one turnwrapped around said shaft and extending downwardly into said hole insaid bracket.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4, wherein said bracket is providedwith an upper portion, and wherein an adjustment screw is threadedthrough said upper portion to adjust the unlatched angular position ofsaid projection.

6. The invention as defined in claim 3, wherein the following areadditionally provided: a housing fixed to said bracket, said housinghaving a slot extending radially therethrough, and an operative armfixed to said rotatable member extending through said housing slot.

7. The invention as defined in claim 6, wherein a torsion spring isprovided to urge said rotatable member to a position in which saidoperating arm engages one terminal portion of said housing slot as astop, said housing and said rotatable member both having holes extendingapproximately radially through them at different angular positions, saidtorsion spring extending from the hole in said housing, around saidrotatable member and into the hole in said rotatable member in aposition to be drawn towards said rotatable member as said operating armis moved from said one terminal portion of said housing slot to anopposite terminal portion thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS744,985 Stuart Nov. 24, 1903 2,164,648 Ferris July 4, 1939 2,211,586Schwarz Aug. 13, 1940 2,228,361 ONeil Ian. 14, 1941 2,472,791 Clark June14, 1949 2,552,390 Bacon et a1. May 8, 1951 2,616,739 Allen Nov. 4, 19522,687,320 Moler Aug. 24, 1954

